Project aim

To produce excellent real ale for the discerning drinker, at the same time offering employment and pride in the local community

About the project

My name is Steve and I have been serving and caring for Real Ales for 20 years, I currently run an Ale-led Pub in West Wales with my wife Christie, called The Plash Inn, which was CAMRA Carmarthenshire Pub of the Year 2012 (we are trying hard to win this again!).

Two years ago we decided that it would be great to serve our own Beer to our discerning clientele at our pub, so started looking back over the 100’s of Ales we have served during the past 10 years, to find out what sort of Ales went well and which didn’t go so well. We also made the decision that rather than just produce enough Ale for our Pub we should offer it to other local Pubs (to start with) and expand from there.

“What’s In A Name?...”So, why 4FOUR?We agonised over a name for the Brewery for a long time (about 2 years!), we wanted something relevant to ourselves, not necessarily location, products, etc. as these are all subject to change, something that would always remain constant, that would demonstrate consistency. We then focused on our love of Music, myself being a Keyboard Player (some would say frustrated guitarist…and they’d be right!) and Christie an accomplished Flautist, settling on “4FOUR”. Solid, Reliable and Poptastic! Hope you like it.

“We’re Gonna Save The World Tonight”Okay, maybe not save the world, but do our bit for the environment in every way possible. We are talking locally sourced ingredients (we can even grow Hops in Wales!), local Bottling and Labelling, Biomass Boilers using waste ingredients to help fuel it, Electric delivery vans (for local drops at the moment), Low Energy lighting and Solar PV. All of this not only helps the planet but also lowers the cost of Ale production, making the whole thing more viable.

“What You Gonna Do?”Right , the important stuff. We will produce 3 Ales as Regulars ranging from 3.8% to 4.5%, Golden to Dark Ale, plus a monthly “Guest Ale”, which will all be offered in either Casks or Bottles depending on Customer preference. So, 15 Ales over the course of the first year and there’s nothing to say that if a “Guest “ proves popular it won’t become a Regular. We are starting out with a 4BBL plant which offers enough capacity to start without overstretching Finances and Staffing costs. We are looking to expand organically with demand and housing the Brewery in a building that can cope with some sizeable expansion to enable growth without relocation…Breweries don’t like moving.